﻿VENEZUELAN ORNITHOLOGY — FRIEDMANN AND SMITH 425 



Family TINAMIDAE: Tinamous 



CBYPTURELLUS NOCTIVAGUS ERYTHROPUS (Pelzeln) 



Tinamus erythropus Pelzeln, Verb, zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, vol. 13, 1863, pp. 1127, 

 1129 (Barra do Rio Negro =Mandos, Brazil). 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 9 , Caicara, December 21, 1945; gonads enlarged; iris light brown; tarsi and 

 toes coral-red. 



This bird was coming into breeding condition, for its ovary showed 

 several "small yolks," although its plumage was not yet abraded as 

 it probably would have been if the bird had been finishing its breeding 

 season. 



Together with the specimens of C. idoneus, under which a detailed 

 discussion is given, this example shows that the ranges of two closely 

 related species of tinamous of the genus Crypturellus overlap in 

 northeastern Venezuela. Compared with a female of idoneus from 

 Cantaura, the present bird differs in being very much darker on 

 the upperparts, the mantle dark Vandyke brown with a purplish- 

 slate tinge, and the crown still darker, while in idoneus the mantle is 

 between hair brown and benzo brown and the crown is finely barred 

 with Sayal brown; the pale bars on the wings and back are tawny- 

 russet fading posteriorly to pinldsh cinnamon in our erythropus, while 

 in idoneus they are pale ochraceous-buffy to almost white. 



The specimen was secured in wet woodlands. The local name 

 "soisola" (I'm alone) is used for both species, which are not distin- 

 guished by the local residents, and is an imitation of the bird's clear, 

 low whistle, soy-so-la, which may be heard for a considerable distance. 



The following observations apply both to this and to the next form, 

 which are very similar in their habits and which were not differentiated 

 in the field: 



This tinamou was not abundant even in favorable localities. A 

 shy, retiring bird, it was sUent throughout much of the year, but at 

 the end of the dry season it commenced calling, and as many as six 

 scattered individuals might be heard at one time, particularly early 

 in the evening. This calling was continued during the months of 

 April through August and is concurrent with the breeding season. 

 Although the species is presumably present in the area throughout 

 the year, it was recorded only during the months of February through 

 August and in December. 



The call of this species consists of three clear whistled notes, the 

 first being higher than the following two, which are the same in pitch. 

 All three notes are of the same duration and all carry well. At times 

 the first note is omitted, and occasionally the third note is given at a 

 slightly lower pitch than the preceding one. The collector was not 



